Headshot of Nicholas Bussberg

Nicholas Bussberg

Assistant Professor of Statistics

Department: Mathematics and Statistics

Office and address: Duke, Office 201A 2320 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244

Phone number: (336) 278-5328

Professional Expertise

environmental statistics; spatial and spatio-temporal statistics; reproducibility

Brief Biography

I joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in Fall 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Statistics. Prior to Elon, I received my Ph.D. in Statistical Science from Indiana University, Bloomington. My main areas of research are spatial and spatio-temporal statistics, environmental statistics, and integrating reproducibility into undergraduate statistics courses.  

News & Notes

Education

PhD, Statistical Science, Indiana University Bloomington, 2020

  • Dissertation: Environmental Applications of Temporal, Spatial, and Spatio-temporal Statistics
  • Advisor: Chunfeng Huang

MS, Environmental Science, Indiana University Bloomington, 2014

BS, Biology, Indiana University Bloomington, 2011

Current Projects

Current research projects:

  • *Improving statistical analysis methods, including missing data approaches, to investigate deep-sea coral biodiversity. 
  • Evaluating current methods for processing and analyzing tree-ring data.
  • Assessing the effect of pandemic stay-at-home orders on bat activity in Greensboro.
  • Developing new models for global spatial and spatio-temporal processes.
  • Evaluating student perceptions of reproducibility being integrated into statistics courses

Note to students: The projects listed above are active projects that my current research students and I are working on. The * indicates projects that I am actively looking for more students to support. However, if you are interested in other research areas, please feel free to contact me. I'm happy to discuss other possibilities.

Publications

My name is bolded for each publication, and student mentees are followed with *.

  • Bussberg, N.W., L.L. Taylor. 2025. Student Perceptions of Group Work and Group Formation Strategies. Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2025.2507765.
  • Bussberg, N.W., J. Shields, C. Huang. 2025. Intrinsic Random Function Kriging on the Sphere. Journal of Statistical Theory and Practice, 19:35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42519-025-00448-0.
  • Kim, J., C. Huang, N. Bussberg. 2025. Intrinsic Random Functions and Parametric Covariance Models of Spatio-Temporal Random Processes on the Sphere. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.00579. 
  • Reutinger, B.*, N. Bussberg, D. Vandermast. 2024. Increasing the Accuracy of Tree-Ring Data Processing to Improve Models for Reconstructing Climate. Joint Statistical Meeting Proceedings. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13943055.
  • Huang, C., A. Li, N.W. Bussberg, H. Zhang. 2024. The circular Matérn covariance function and its link to Markov random fields on the circle. Spatial Statistics, 62:100837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2024.100837.
  • Kim, J., N.W. Bussberg, C. Huang. 2023. Parameterized Covariance Modeling for Non-Homogeneous and Non-Stationary Spatio-Temporal Random Processes on the Sphere. Joint Statistical Meetings Proceedings. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8431868.
  • Ball, R., N. Medeiros, N.W. Bussberg, A. Piekut. 2022. An Invitation to Teaching Reproducible Research: Lessons from a Symposium. Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, 30(3):209-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2022.2099489.
  • Bussberg, N.W., J. Maxwell, S. Robeson, C. Huang. 2020. The effect of end-point adjustments on smoothing splines used for tree-ring standardization. Dendrochronologia, 60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2020.125665.
  • Zimmerman, A.N., C.C. Johnson, N.W. Bussberg, M.M. Dalkilic. 2020. Stability and decline in deep-sea coral biodiversity, Gulf of Mexico and US West Atlantic. Coral Reefs, 39:345-359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01896-9.